31 October 2025
Hello everyone and a happy Halloween!
This week has been a bit of a strange week for me after returning from annual leave.
I went away for four days with my Dad to Malaga. It's coming up to the two-year anniversary of my Mam's passing and I try to see my Dad as often as possible. To be honest, four days is long enough to be away with him, and I also miss my French bulldog Enzo. I know it sounds strange, but I never really switch off whilst I am away, I still answer emails and come up with lots of ideas and plans to discuss with Mike when I'm back on Monday.
I spent the beginning of the week catching up on casework and getting an update after my break before heading to a Tees Valley Leader's meeting.
I then had a briefing on the Hurricane affecting the Caribbean to understand any local impact on residents with family connections there and how we can offer information or signposting support to any residents affected. I then attended a member's briefing session where we were updated on the Holidays Are Fun Programme (HAF).
On Wednesday morning, I joined a Leader's session centred around Pride in Places, which is one of many incentives that we, as a Local Authority, have been chosen by Government to participate in. This also comes with significant resources to our Borough.
In the afternoon I chaired the Council's Health and Wellbeing Board, which included an update on our Care and Health Winter planning, followed by a closed session where we discussed isolation and loneliness and how we could tackle it in our Borough. We have a great team of people around the table from different organisations and partnerships, and I am sure we will tackle the issue head on. I then had a catch up with the Deputy Leader, Cllr Paul Rowling to discuss future plans for the Borough.
Today I had an interview with Global Radio about the 'North East Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt'. This was created by families and friends of those lost to suicide. The quilt will be arriving in Stockton on Monday 3 November at Stockton Central Library.
It has toured the region, including Tyne and Wear, Darlington and County Durham. It is now time for the Teesside tour to commence. A book featuring the designs families and friends have made where they share their own stories, will be available to read as part of the exhibition.
The quilt features 120 individual fabric squares which have been crafted with love and care by more than 200 people to honour loved ones who have died by suicide. The creation of this memorial quilt highlights the devastating impact of suicide loss across our region, and it will not only strive to raise awareness, start conversations and encourage one another to speak their name, but also bring hope and healing to those who have lost loved ones.
If there is anyone struggling with their mental health across the Borough, there is a range of support available that can be accessed by visiting the Council's dedicated mental health support page.
The quilt will be on display at Stockton Central Library until Saturday 29 November, before moving to Billingham Library throughout December. There will also be a special event at Billingham Library on Thursday 4 December, including a series of scheduled talks held in the library's meeting room, aligned with the residency of the Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt. The quilt will also be displayed at Thornaby Library in March 2026.
Please do go along to view it if you are able to, and please remember, it's good to talk.
I will leave you with my plans for the weekend - but maybe I shouldn't! I always buy sweets for Halloween and the lovely kids on my estate, but I don't really like opening the door. So, what I usually do is put a Halloween cauldron out filled with sweets. Only problem is...last year someone got a bit over-excited and took all the sweets (and the cauldron!), meaning I had to nip to Asda for more. Maybe tonight I will open the door!
Have a great weekend.
